Movie Review: PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: December 21st, 2022 / 12:57 PM

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH | ©2022 Universal Pictures/Dreamworks

Rating: PG
Stars (voices): Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek Pinault, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, John Mulaney, Wagner Moura, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Anthony Mendez
Writers: Paul Fisher and Tommy Swerdlow, story by Tommy Swerdlow and Tom Wheeler
Director: Joel Crawford; Co-Director: Januel P. Mercado
Distributor: Universal/DreamWorks
Release Date: December 21, 2022

As voiced by Antonio Banderas, the swashbuckling, Zorro-like feline Puss in Boots was originally introduced in 2005’s SHREK 2. Since then, Puss (with Banderas’s voice) has appeared in two more SHREK sequels and a bunch of shorts, and got his own PUSS IN BOOTS movie back in 2011.

Now Puss toplines his second theatrical, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH. Students of feline lore know that cats have nine lives. Puss has plenty of panache and bravado, and loves putting on a show for adoring villagers. But he’s been careless, and is bad with math. When he learns that he’s used up eight of his lives, Puss panics.

After getting a shaky handle on his fears, Puss recalls the legend of the Wishing Star, which will grant a single wish to whoever finds it. He resolves to get the map that points the way to the star, so that he can wish for more lives.

Puss soon encounters his old love interest/partner Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek Pinault), and can’t shake a determinedly friendly chihuahua (voiced by Harvey Guillén). Their competition for possession of the map includes the crime family of Goldilocks (voiced by Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (voiced by Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo), plus the villainous Big Jack Horner (voiced by John Mulaney). For added scares, a wolf (voiced by Wagner Moura, who played Pablo Escobar on NARCOS) is also after Puss for other reasons.

There is of course humor in PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, but there’s also a serious streak. The hero’s journey for Puss here includes a lot of shame. Most movies aimed at families don’t include quite so much contemplation of the gap between one’s self-image and the person one has ultimately turned out to be.

There’s also a whole riff about interracial adoption with Goldie and the bears that actually gets discussed, rather than just hanging in the subtext, issues of trust and mortality, and more.

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH is action-packed and highly colorful, with great gags now and then, although some require reading the end credits. It’s unclear if the Jiminy Cricket-like “Ethical Bug,” voiced James Stewart-style by Kevin McCann, is so named because of rights issues with all of the PINOCCHIO movies coming out this year, or if the filmmakers just thought it was funny. For lovers of WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, there’s also a nice meta joke, since Guillén’s SHADOWS character has a crush on Banderas.

Banderas is perfectly on point as Puss, Guillén is adorable, Hayek is cool, Mulaney is suitably hateful, and Colman is the Mama Bear everyone wishes they had.

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH is imaginative and lively, but a little darker than we might expect. There’s as much or more here for grownups as for kids.

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